13 foot hole in side of sunken ferry

This isn't a new story but it's become topical again.

In 1994 the ferry Estonia sank resulting in 852 deaths. Most of the bodies were never recovered due to the depth and sea condition.

Officially the bow doors were blamed for the sinking, but there were also reports of an on board explosion.

Its been confirmed that there is a 13 foot hole in the side, of the wreck but officials say that this wasn't what sank the ship.

www.msn.com...

Does anybody remember this from the time or have any useful insights into the explosion hypothesis?

I remember the sinking but I don't remember anything about there being an explosion on board. But it was a long time ago so I may simply have forgotten about it.

I do remember this, I remember the car ramps/rear doors being blamed for apparently not being shut properly and causing it to flood and then sink.

This is the first I'd heard of an explosion, I dont even remember a conspiracy around it, except for the neglect of the doors not being closed properly.

Interesting.

a reply to: AaarghZombies

Maybe a result of cargo sliding around.
Those ship were not designed to turn on their sides.

I would think an explosion would have been heard.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: AaarghZombies

Maybe a result of cargo sliding around.
Those ship were not designed to turn on their sides.

I would think an explosion would have been heard.

You'd need a very large object moving quite fast to make a 13 foot hole in side of a ship like that, and the noise of the storm could cover the noise of an explosion.

a reply to: AaarghZombies

Your link says clearly they think it was a collision with a submarine and not an explosion.

a reply to: AaarghZombies



Shrugs?

a reply to: AaarghZombies
Would be interesting to know the shape of hole, and if evidence shows an inside-to-outside burst ....

I do remember the door thing as well.....

a reply to: AaarghZombies

It's not the sexy answer but it's the most likely one.
A heavy truck falling into a steel plate of the ship.

We need pictures.
Explosions are pretty easy to identify but since it's 25 years ago it might be harder to see.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Then where is the wreck of the submarine?

any sub would be badly damaged by a collision like that, and if a damaged submarine had been repaired at that time it would have been reported. Its hard to hide a submarine on the surface with a busted bow. Us spy satellites would have seen a soviet sub limping in to port because that's what they're designed to do, and Western subs would have been reported by domestic media.

Maybe a USO?

a reply to: Bluntone22

A 13 foot hole?

What was this a cement truck traveling at 90mph?

These ferries have to survive rough seas, they're made of tough stuff.

I would not be surprised the way it turned that the hull was damaged. What I am surprised by is they never retrieved the bodies. Its not unreachable so why didnt they retrieve the bodies for the families?

Something happened and they been determined to keep it secret since. I dont believe the offical narrative.

originally posted by: AaarghZombies
Then where is the wreck of the submarine?

Subs have special alloy hulls designed for great depth, punching a hole in a ferry isn't going to sink it and for security or public perception reasons they may not make the collision public. Think of the teeth pulling that was required to get the Russians to admit what happened with the K-19 or Kursk sinkings.

From Wikipedia....

Citing the practical difficulties and the moral implications of raising decaying bodies from the sea floor (the majority of the bodies were never recovered), and fearing the financial burden of lifting the entire hull to the surface and the salvage operation, the Swedish government suggested burying the whole ship in situ with a shell of concrete.[33][34] As a preliminary step, thousands of tons of pebbles were dropped on the site.[32] The Estonia Agreement 1995, a treaty among Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Denmark, Russia and the United Kingdom, declared sanctity over the site, prohibiting their citizens from even approaching the wreck.[35] The treaty is, however, only binding for citizens of the countries that are signatories. At least twice, the Swedish Navy has discovered diving operations at the wreck. The wreck is monitored by radar by the Finnish Navy.[36]



That definitely sounds like they (literally) tried to cover something up

a reply to: AaarghZombies

How long is a pickup truck?
13ish feet long?

Now slide multiple other vehicles into the truck as the ship rolls on it's side and they could punch through.

Like I said...
Show up the pictures.
Let's see the hole.

Until then it's nothing more than speculation.

New documentary about it...it has allready pushed the goverments to look up again the whole thing..

New series on Estonia shipwreck promises major revelation


My guess is that explosives sinked the ship. Divers and experts say they found proof from the hole area about explosives.

a reply to: Bluntone22

There was a ferry that sank off of England in the 1980s, the vehicles smooshed up against the side of the vehicle deck but none penetrated the Hull. There were a lot of pictures in then media. One hypothesis is that the vehicle slamming against the side was what caused it to tip over, none went through.

a reply to: AaarghZombies

I remember that one..
Like I said...
Only speculation.

I still think an explosion big enough to make that big of a hole would have been heard by someone.
As far as I know there have been no reports of that but I could be wrong.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Pressure and penetration are different things. If it made a hole that big it would have been badly damaged.

Even if it didn't sink it would have needed repairs, when there have been other collisions involving subs people have seen the subs in dry Dock.

originally posted by: AaarghZombies
Pressure and penetration are different things. If it made a hole that big it would have been badly damaged.

All submarines have at least two hulls, a collision with an unarmored vessel is not going to rupture the pressure hull and compromise water tightness.

Even if it didn't sink it would have needed repairs, when there have been other collisions involving subs people have seen the subs in dry Dock.

This is General Dynamics Groton drydock, can you circle the submarines visible?